Touched By The Gods
by jaqtkd
Summary: A collection of 'Atlantis' stories. Chapter 1 & 2. A passing comment by Ariadne during a romantic encounter has Jason questioning his unique abilities. A follow up conversation with Pythagoras and Hercules simply adds to the questions he has about his new world and its magic. First chapter is quite mild for M but it might be too strong for T.
1. Royal Commands

**Touched By The Gods**

_**A/N: **This chapter is Jariadne and somewhere between the T and M rating. Chapter 2 is K+ rated friendship between the three boys. I'm hoping to add more chapters to this in future._

**Royal Commands**

(For Matt72's Christmas Wish List)

"Why are you here, Jason?"

He turned at the sound of her voice, a daft smile already plastered across his face. "Hello." She raised an eyebrow at him, only her head and shoulders peeking around her bedroom door. "Ah.. your Highness," he added hastily.

"And?"

"I'm guarding you, obviously."

"I have others to do that for me."

He shook his head. "I trust no-one else."

"You're forgetting your place again."

He couldn't help but smile. "I'm outside your room, obviously." As much as he knew he should show more deference towards the Queen of Atlantis, it still felt so wrong to do so.

"Don't do that," she said with a small frown.

"What?"

She shook her head. "You _know_ we can't be together."

He shrugged. "I know."

"And yet..."

"Yes?"

She shook her head. "It makes no sense, Jason but, the strange pull I feel whenever you're near must mean something."

"What pull?"

"Can you not feel it? The sense that we are somehow connected?"

He frowned. "I know it hurts when we're apart. I know it feels right when we're together."

"And it shouldn't," she replied with a nod. "Such a relationship would not be allowed and the gods should not be encouraging us."

She wasn't looking at him so he felt able to smile a little at her superstition. "It would be so much easier if you were King of Atlantis instead," he said off-handedly, now totally distracted by her proximity and beauty.

"What?"

He replayed what he'd just said and shook his head, suddenly embarrassed. "Ah... that's not quite..." he said hastily, and then grinned as she yet again arched an eyebrow. "I just meant that it's not at all unheard of for kings to have romances with their female subjects with no consequences. It just seems a shame that you can't do the same."

He smiled cheekily as she gaped at him for the suggestion. "Jason! I never would. That would hardly be fair on you."

He didn't break eye contact. "It might be fun. You know... following your every order."

Her eyes widened and he noticed her lick her lips. He wondered what thought might have just appeared in her head at that moment.

"Ridiculous," she said after a short pause, starting to close the door. "Goodnight, Jason."

"Goodnight."

~o~0~o~

Some time later the door creaked open again and Jason stood up immediately. He noticed she seemed unable to look him in the eye. As tempting as it was to speak, he waited for her to begin.

"You have a point, you know?" she whispered, eventually.

"I do?"

"About men in power."

"Yes." He tried hard to keep his expression neutral. "Hardly seems fair, does it?"

"Only of course, it _is_ different," she continued. "Such things are likely to have... consequences."

"That rather depends," he replied.

"On what?"

"On exactly what orders you might wish to give me."

Her eyes widened and she looked nervously up and down the corridor for a moment, considering.

"Then I order you to come into my room," she said, eventually.

"Your wish is my command," he replied, starting to move forwards.

She did then smile slightly. "No, remember. _I'm_ the one giving the commands."

Jason's heart started to beat faster. Was she really going to play along?

"And?" he asked.

She held his gaze for a moment, eyes only betraying the smallest amount of emotion. "I order you to take off your shirt."

An easy one, and it wasn't as if she hadn't seen him that way often enough already. He grinned and stripped, enjoying the way her eyes widened as he removed the garment.

His smug smile at her reaction quickly fell as she approached, and his heart now started to beat quickly. She then raised a hand and gently touched his chest, and Jason closed his eyes as his whole body seemed to spark to life at her touch.

"Can you feel it now?" she asked. "That pull?"

"Perhaps."

"It feels real. It feels magical."

"Yeah..." He was distracted as her hand started to move again, tracing gentle lines across his chest, even though she didn't seem entirely focused on the task.

"Do you really have no idea what I mean?" she asked. "Only sometimes I think... your speed, your luck... The gods have blessed you and that normally means..." She frowned.

"Yes?" Jason asked.

"The gods favour their own and grant them their own gifts. Their own sorcery."

He looked at her sceptically. "Sorcery?"

She nodded and looked up at him with large, dark eyes and Jason had no idea what she was thinking. "I have another order for you?"

"Oh?"

"Kiss me."

He grinned again. "I thought you'd never ask."

~o~0~o~

Ariadne was Queen of Atlantis though, which meant she would still have to form a marriage alliance with someone of importance and so, as she'd said earlier, there was a limit to how far they could take this little game. However, that didn't mean they couldn't push the restrictions right up to that limit, and so it wasn't long before they were both naked on her bed and Jason was following Ariadne's latest order to kiss her in as many places as possible.

Actually, it had been less of an order and more of a desperate plea, but he was hardly going to spoil their game by pointing that out to her. He even briefly contemplated giving her a few orders of his own, although he was fairly confident that that _would_ be pushing his luck.

This was still a dream come true, though, even if he was under no illusions that it would last. In the cold light of day he expected Ariadne to mumble comments about it all having been a mistake or perhaps even apologise for the orders, even though they both knew Jason was never going to have objected.

However, as his lips travelled lower, if wondered if he made tonight _really_ memorable for her, perhaps, on some future occasion, Ariadne might decide she had a few more orders she wished him to follow.

She gasped as he reached her lower stomach and he looked up, eyeing her cheekily.

"Shall I stop, your highness?" he asked.

"Don't you dare," she replied. "Your Queen orders you to continue."

~o~0~o~

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:** This Christmas, a new challenge at 'The Heart of Camelot' saw me actually write something other than 'Merlin'! Members wished for stories (and many other things) as part of their wish lists, and I finally started to write for different fandoms. _

_As well as these two stories, I also started a Merlin/Harry Potter crossover idea which is likely to be extended and I may also move over here, once I've worked out how to label it. _


	2. Gift From The Gods

**Gift From The Gods**

(For Narlth's Christmas Wish List)

"Where were _you_ last night?" Hercules asked Jason as he strode into their shared room after breakfast.

"Guarding the Queen," he replied.

"Really?"

It looked to Pythagoras as if Jason was struggling to keep a straight face. "Yes."

"You're really not making things easy for yourself, are you?" Pythagoras commented.

Jason shrugged and sat down at the table, a small frown on his face. "She spoke of sorcery."

"Yes?" Pythagoras asked.

"I mean... it's not true, is it? There's no such thing."

"Of course there is. Why would you say that?"

Jason had that all-too-familiar look on his face, the one which seemed to register total shock in the face of the most everyday things.

"_Where_ did you say you were brought up, again?" Pythagoras asked and was sure a look of panic briefly crossed his friend's face.

"Oh, just... north..." He winced at Pythagoras' sceptical look.

"Helpful," Hercules countered, looking gloomily at the empty jug he had just tipped over his goblet. "I need to get some more of this."

"The gods are everywhere, of course," Pythagoras started to explain. "But they do have their favourite places. Kings like to believe that they favour Atlantis because of some personal preference to them or their ancestors, but others think it's more than that."

"Oh?"

"Many magic users believe that there are centres of power within the earth – all over the world in various places – and that, in these centres, it is far easier to hone their craft." He frowned. "But did the gods create those places for their own benefit, or are they attracted to them because of the power?"

The chicken or the egg?" Jason muttered, almost to himself.

"What?" Hercules asked as he returned to the table with a full flagon.

"Which came first?" he explained.

"Oh, that's a very interesting question," Pythagoras said, nodding. "And yes, it sums up all our skills from sword ability, science, sorcery, music and art. Our gifts are god-given, of course, but we all have the ability to learn or improve, no matter what natural abilities we were born with."

"You're not seriously putting sorcery in as the same skill as... maths?" Jason asked him.

"Of course. Why would you not? For some it is _such_ a god-given skill that it's almost instinctive with the minimum of studying required. For others it is something that needs to be worked at and requires _so _much effort that it's often hardly worth the trouble."

Hercules nodded. "I tried it once. Ended up sleeping for a week."

"_You_ did?" Jason sounded incredulous again.

"Of course," the large man replied nonchalantly. "It runs in my family, obviously."

Jason turned back to Pythagoras who nodded wryly. "And although it is indeed true that some places have stronger centres of power than others, I'm still surprised that _you're_ surprised, Jason. I mean, surely you of all people must have had some experience with it."

"Why me, of all people?" he asked suspiciously.

"Those reflexes of yours, your uncanny ability to get yourself out of trouble. That shows some skill."

He frowned. "Ariadne said much the same thing."

"Have you really never attempted it? Has it never been suggested that you study it?"

"No, not where I come from. Up there it's..." Jason paused suddenly, and his eyes widened. "Oh..."

"What?"

"It's just that, when I was ten, my foster parents received a visit from a couple of strange people. They said..." He shook his head. "There was a lot of talking, hushed voices and some strange comments about magic but... they wouldn't hear of it – sent the pair of them away and wouldn't answer any of my questions afterwards."

"They didn't approve of you studying those arts then?" Hercules said, nodding. "I have heard of some communities, some leaders who do not like it, which makes no sense to me. Why would you not approve of something so closely associated with the gods? Why would you _not_ wish to partake of something which they approve of?"

Jason shook his head with a small laugh. "Other places worship _other_ gods. And some do not wish to share their powers with mere mortals."

"How very selfish of them," Pythagoras commented, offhandedly.

"What about you?" Jason asked.

It was probably fairly inevitable this conversation was going to come around to him and so Pythagoras quickly thought of a way out of it, effecting his usual bright grin. "You know, it really is fascinating - the differences and similarities between maths and science and sorcery, I mean. How they work, how they're studied?"

"They don't... contradict each other?" Jason asked.

"No, no... not at all. In fact they actually _compliment_ each other. As I said, it's all rather fascinating."

"Nothing to do with triangles then?" Hercules teased.

"Now, it's funny you should say that..."

"Uh-oh, now you've done it," Jason joked.

Pythagoras pretended to be offended but he was actually relieved. Pleased he'd managed to divert his friends' attention away from the question of his own magical abilities and keep his promise to the Oracle in the process.

After all, it was his destiny to use his abilities to protect Jason at all costs.

~o~0~o~

* * *

><p><em><strong>AN:** Just a little head canon of mine regarding Pythagoras, plus a sneaky reference to another fandom! _


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